A victory in the DHL Stormers’ Champions Cup home debut against London Irish on Saturday is crucial to John Dobson’s plans. DYLAN JACK reports.
The Stormers go into the match on the back of a 24-14 loss on debut at French giants Clermont.
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Despite letting a 14-3 half-time lead slip, Dobson said on Wednesday that the Stormers will benefit from the experience of playing in hostile and unfamiliar conditions.
“Nobody expected us to win in Clermont,” said the Stormers coach. “We could have sent a ‘B-team’ there and fought. But I strongly felt, with this team, if we have been to play that Clermont team in zero degrees in that stadium, there’s not much to be scared of.
“We will be much better for the experience. Guys like Neethling Fouche and Marcel Theunissen, they will all be better for it. I think we got it right, despite one or two things going wrong.
“The big thing is that it has stood us in good stead. We have three massive home games coming up, one critical Champions Cup and two big URC games. So I think we will be better for the experience.”
Against London Irish, the Stormers are up against a side that currently sits second-from-bottom in the English Premiership.
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However, their log position is slightly misleading as the Exiles ran defending Premiership champions Leicester close in a 33-31 loss, and did the same in a 32-27 defeat to defending Top 14 champs Montpellier, despite playing most of the match with 14 men.
“They are actually quite an all-round team,” said Dobson. “They have one of the most effective lineouts in terms of contesting, with Rob Simmonds.
“They play a really attractive brand of rugby. They don’t go away. Benhard Janse van Rensburg is the guy who does the Andre Esterhuizen-role. He’s the momentum-giver. They have real speed out wide.
“I know they lost four or five games in the Premiership, but their points difference is only -22.
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“I heard someone nickname them the ‘Walking Dead’, because they never go away, they never die. We know this is a team that really fights. We saw that in round one when they had 14 men against Montpellier, the French champions. They have a solid set-piece, but a really high-speed, attacking brand of rugby.”
The Stormers will welcome back Springboks Frans Malherbe and Marvin Orie for the clash, while Willie Engelbrecht and Dan du Plessis have returned from injuries to offset the unavailability of locks Gary Porter (rib) and Ernst van Rhyn (MCL tear).
“Like every team we want to make it into the last 16, so it makes this home Champions Cup match a really crucial game. We are also excited to present a Champions Cup game in Cape Town,” Dobson added.
Photo: Twitter: @THESTORMERS
